Learning Behavior Specialist Endorsement Test

Has anyone had to take the Illinois LBSI certification test within the last two years? I have to take this test in a few weeks and since I am new to this state and have been out of college for 10 years, any help or pointers I could get beyond the study guide would be very helpful to me.

This is what I can remember..... 125 multiple choice questions. Many of them seemed to be about MR students and transition programs/plans. There were also many questions on dealing with students and parents from various cultural backgrounds. I reviewed a lot of assessment info. for this test and found that there weren't many questions on that subject at all. I don't recall many if any questions about important legal cases dealing with special ed. and there may have been one main question about IDEA. There were a couple questions about certain agencies related to special education. Oh, and there seemed to be a lot of questions dealing with students with social-emotional issues. Hope this helps.

The test was tiring but mainly common sense. On each question you could narrow the answer down to two answers that both appeared to be correct. Then I reread the question and asked myself why one of the answers might be incorrect. Apparently it worked for me because I did fairly good on the test.

You really can't study for the test. What I would recommend is to go to the library and check out the following text book and just read it. "Mental Retardation An Introduction to Intellectual Disabilities" by Smith, Patton and Kim. That was the course I was taking just before I took the test and it helped.

Also know a little about technology and computers and what to do if the printer doesn't work.

I have been teaching for seventeen years and want to switch over to Special Education.I have just finished the "four" courses needed to get my LBS 1 endorsement(Spring 2008) NOW I have been told by the state of Illinois that I have to complete three MORE courses. The Methods and Assessment part carries more credits needed. So when I am all done I will have to had taken seven courses total @ $700.00 each and take the state L.B.S. 1 exam. Be prepared to give your time and money if it is really what you want !!!!

To find out what courses you need to take, you have to submit your official college transcripts to the IL Board of Education for review. They will review the courses that you took in college and send you a list of courses that you will have to take in order to qualify for the LBS1 Certification. Then, you find a college that offers courses that fit the descriptions, and you take them.

Here is my advice: Do not try to enter a program for LBS1 to obtain certification. I began my quest for cert at Eastern Illinois University. I entered a program, and I had a list of about 12 classes that I had to take. Then, I decided to submit my transcripts to the Board of Ed, and I got a list from them with only 5 classes. I actually took all of these classes online at University of Phoenix. I saved a lot of time and money by doing it this way. State universities with programs will want you to take more classes than you really have to because they are asking you to complete an entire program. If you already have a teaching degree, you don't need to do this.

A lot of endorsements in Illinois are no longer allowing just the courses to fulfill the requirements. A full master's degree requirement is being put into play. Contact ISBE to verify this though as I am in a SpEd master's program because I want to move over a salary lane anyway, however I mentioned wanting to add a reading endorsement and was told it'd have to be a full degree as well.